(1412) Miach, Gyges, and Avis

[Avis]

Per Gyges' request, Avis had turned to lead the way over to Miach just about the time he approached them. Fate really was kind to the Acanthus, she mused, nodding to the man as he phrased his request.

"Sure, Miach. And, uh, well met," she added, wondering if that was the proper way to return that particular greeting. She really didn't know, but, oh well. She wasn't his councilor. He couldn't get her replaced.

"I'd also like to introduce you to the Warlock, Gyges. Apostate. He's just been acknowledged, but he's volunteered to help me consult you on matters of security, which I am more than happy to take him up on. Multiple perspectives and all that. So...is that what you'd like to discuss now, or was there something else?"

Probably was best to ask, rather than make assumptions, although she couldn't think of what he'd want to discuss besides what he'd mentioned on the phone.

[Miach]

Miach was all smile, though it was obviously more manners than real pleasure. "Nice meeting you, Gyges, I'm Miach, Enchanter and Mystagogue." he said, extending his hand for a firm handshake. Hopefully that one had been thoroughly screened before being Acknowledged. There were so many Banishers around, as he should know.

As Avis went straight to the point, he obliged her gladly. "This is precisely what I'd like to discuss now, if that's not too much asking ?" but again, it of course wasn't too much, otherwise she wouldn't be around, and even less so with another man in tow.

"It has come to my attention that I have been lax in my own security measures... and I'd like to ask whether Warding my Sanctum, if not outright Banning it, could be feasible by someone from the Warlock's team. Though we'd probably have to talk prices afterward..." he said, wincing. He had things to offer, for sure, but would they be of interest to some Warlock with the capability to help him ? That remained to be seen.

[Gyges]

Gyges nods to the man, returns his handshake. "Doctor," he says, greeting Miach politely. He then settles in to listen to what the Enchanter wants. "So how big a space are we talking, how much security are you needing, and how long do you want it Warded?" The answers to those three would help settle in on how Gyges would go about it.

[Miach]

The handsome Warlock's manners were appreciated, as were his questions. Giving an appreciative nod to the precise - nearly professionnal - questions asked, Miach replied in kind. "A basement. As much as I can get - it'll already be better than naught. And forever." Of course, the Acanthus couldn't help but shrugging as he finished. Life had taught him there was no such thing as a free meal, and he doubted he could get what he wished for.

But it couldn't hurt asking.

[Avis]

"Forever is impossible. They have to be recast after a period of time. Basically, here's the deal: the larger the area and the longer it's gonna last affect how difficult it is to place a Ward. So I would recommend, maybe, a smaller room that you could have as a sort of, I don't know, room for secrets. Like, if you need to discuss something concerning the Consilium, or if you have occult books you're wanting to keep unseen, then you'd just want to have all that in the warded room," Avis tried to explain, brow creased beneath her propeller hat. After a moment she shrugged, and her eyes flicked over to Gyges.

"I mean, unless you know of a different way to do it?"

[Gyges]

"Ehhhhhh..." Gyges scratches his chin and makes a thinking sound as he figures out how to say what needs to be said. "You can give it an indefinite duration, it just takes a big ritual that you should reinforce with runes. Couple problems with that though. First is that if someone really wants to break through them, they can try to build up their own big ritual to break through. If they're smart about it and you aren't monitoring and maintaining them regularly, it's actually pretty simple to wear them down so they protect about as well as a piece of paper. It can just takes a lot of time depending on a bunch of factors." He waves his hand, there's no point in going over all those factors right now. If they wanted to know they could ask later.

"The bigger problem," Gyges continues, "is managing the Ward once it's up. The caster either has to relinquish it, which is damn tough as I'm sure you know, or someone has to juggle the spell 24/7, which is a significant degree of arcane run time for anyone and it comes with it's own risks, one of them being that they're a single point of failure. Both options are going to be prohibitively expensive if you aren't doing it yourself." And not necessarily expensive in dollar bills. "There's other options though, how much do you know about sympathy?"

[Miach]

"Hmm..." Miach said as he listened intently to the explanations given by the Warlocks. No free meal indeed. He'd have to find a balance between size, potency and duration, indeed.

The handsome Gyges then brought further precision to the Councilor's explanation. Wards have to be maintained. And making it last indefinitly... sounded like a losing proposal eventually. What was implied by the man was that anyone wishing Wards would be better off putting them up himself. So much to do, so little time.

"I'm learning about Sympathy. Still way to grow, of course... What's on your mind, please ?"

[Gyges]

"Right, Sympathy works through connections," Gyges brings his two index fingers together, then draws them apart. "Those connections don't naturally fray over time. For locations, you can keep sympathy from building up without knowing Space yourself by redecorating regularly, especially after any mages visit. Replace all your furniture with a new style, arrange them in a different layout, repaint the walls, tear up the floor, etcetera. Redesign the whole Sanctum and there's almost no way to get around that without being there in person to rebuild the connection. You've got to keep windows blocked off somehow so that people can't take pictures and use that to build up sympathy and your foyer is going to be the weak link in that, but if you're worried about general security and not someone specific who's breathing down your neck it shouldn't be that much of a problem." Well, other than the cost, best if you think of it as incentive to form a cabal with someone who knows Matter.

"That leaves person to person sympathetic ties to worry about, someone can use their connection to you or any guests at your place as a vector to get in. Not a lot you can do about that, most people can't handle the kind of dramatic changes you have to go through to be a completely different person and you can't do anything about pets short of getting rid of them." Gyges shrugs. "But again, if you're just generally worried about security and not a specific threat keeping you up at night it's not too big a deal." Gyges scratched his chin again and looked Miach over. He was a doctor right? "Councilor Avis said you had a medical degree? If you work at a practice, your two biggest general security risks are gatherings like this and your normal work routine. Anyone that meets you and is a disciple of Space can reinforce a casual connection into something that's just short of being right next to you without you knowing about it. Keeping your name secret helps but it's not a guarantee of safety, especially if someone knows what they're doing. If I haven't put the fear of god into you about warlocks and sympathy you can always ask about hiring one of us to sit down with you for a couple of hours every week or so to burn off all the normal connections you build up between sessions and after big meetings like this. It's not a perfect solution and if you re-encounter anyone the connections will grow back, but it might be better in the long run until you learn enough to handle the Space work yourself."

[Avis]

"Burning 'em off, magic wise, won't affect your emotional relationships just in case you're curious about that. Like, if you're dating then you're, uh -- partner won't feel any different toward you, or vice versa, but that also means the sympathetic connection will grow back again, like Gyges said," Avis pitched in, not wanting to get shown up. Well, not too much. Gyges obviously knew his shit.

[Gyges]

"That is very true," says Gyges as he nods along with what Avis says. That was a very valid point that he had neglected to touch on.

"On Bans, they're dependent on your wards so if they get taken down all the Bans in the world won't do you any good." He shrugs. "There's a spell for pretty much everything, a locked door will stop someone just as well as a Ban will, unless they know a skeleton key spell or they're willing to tear it down through brute force or they know how to pick the lock. Truthfully there's so many ways for a clever magus to work around any security if you don't have a counter to that specific magus' skill set that the best way is to get together with other magi that have as broad a magical skill set as possible and work together as a Cabal."